


Always Will Be

by raidbossmadi



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Early CoV, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Late CoV, Non-Linear Narrative, Pre-CoV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-01-08 02:13:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21228092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raidbossmadi/pseuds/raidbossmadi
Summary: A collection of Shorts and side stories that wouldn't fit into People Like Us  proper. All stories contained within are  canon to the People Like Us AU and are from all across the People Like Us timeframe.





	1. Failure to Thrive

Typhon stood in front of the lone isolette in the ships medical bay. He often praised the fact that his ship was still enough intact to have a functioning medical bay but today of all days it seemed a blessing. Inside laid his son, only a few days old and already fighting for his life, a mess of wires ran from him to the vitals machines and a blood transfusion line was hooked up to his tiny arm. 

The emotional whiplash of the last few days left him feeling numb to the world. His wife Leda had gone to a routine check up with their medical bot Tern only to find that the twins who had developing normally had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. The female twin, Tyreen had begun the process of absorbing her brother, Troy and the choice was made to have an emergency C-section to potentially save Troy’s life. Typhon had to assist Tern in the follow-up operation to separate them something that still weighed heavily on his mind. 

Typhon heard someone move behind him and turned to face them expecting to see Tern but being filled with surprise when instead it was Leda. She was still clad in a hospital gown and looked about as exhausted as a woman who had given birth days ago. 

“Leda! Shouldn’t you be resting, where’s Tyreen?” He fussed hurrying over to her. She smiled put a hand on his shoulder. 

“She’s asleep, I left her with Grouse. I wanted to see Troy.” She said softly, walking with Typhon back to the isolette. She sat down in the chair Typhon dragged over and rested her hand on the plastic shell. 

“He’s so small Typhon. What if he doesn’t make it.” Her voice cracked as she voiced the fear that had been between the both of them since the twins were born. 

“He will Leda, he’s a fighter just like his pops.” Typhon reassured his wife, though he wouldn’t show it he too was afraid Troy would die. Tyreen had absorbed his right arm and seemingly imparted something into him to give him siren tattoos something that had shocked both Typhon and Leda. 

The silent vigil over their son was again interrupted by the sound of someone entering this wing of the medical bay. 

“Typhon, Leda, Grouse said I might find you here. Could I have a word with the both of you?” Tern hovered over to the DeLeons the medical bot had been working day and night since the twins birth to ensure that everyone was healthy and coping well. 

“Of course Tern, what’s the news?” Typhon asked. 

“It’s Troy, he feeds but he does not gain weight. He is failing to thrive… I fear there may not be much more medicine can do for him, perhaps it is best to let nature take its course.” 

The air in the room seemed to turn heavy in that instant, this was an inevitability that they knew they might face but had never truly grasped the gravity of until it was staring them in the face. 

“Can I hold him? Please.” Leda said her voice on the edge of breaking. “I haven’t even gotten to hold my son.” 

Typhon looked to Tern knowing that while the medical bot was programmed to prioritize health and safety over emotions, but he also possessed the empathy to override that function in a situation like this. 

“Of course Leda, just a moment.” Tern replied moving to the isolette and carefully removing the series of wires and monitors from Troy. Leda returned to the seat and took her son from the medical bot. 

Troy had not cried since his birth which was troubling in its own right, but upon settling in his mother’s arms he reacted to her presence. He squirmed in her arms his icy blue eyes locking onto her in recognition. She stroked his cheek gently making soft cooing noises and was stunned when his tiny hand, ringed with red looping tattoos that vaguely resembled her own blue siren markings reached out and rested against the skin of her wrist. His own marks glowed faintly which caused a reaction in Leda as her own tattoos flared the blue light passing into his fingers. The sensation was no different than how she felt nursing Tyreen, when suddenly she understood. 

“Typhon, I think this is what he needs.” She said softly letting him take from her until his little hand curled back into the blanket. Immediately there was a change in Troy’s demeanor, he was fussing about in his mother’s arms to the same degree that his sister did. 

“Leda? What did you do?” Typhon asked incredulously. 

“I fed him? I think?” She replied her attention squarely on her son. She was just so relieved to see him acting like a normal baby, she knew it was dangerous to hope that this would last but it seemed like whatever he had been taking from her was helping him. 

Tern hovered close monitoring the situation in case things were to go south. Typhon wanted to shoo him away and give them the privacy they were afforded with Tyreen but knew refrained as the medical bots presence gave him peace of mind. 

“Got his mother’s eyes, just like his sister.” Typhon remarked as Leda passed him their son. Troy seemed just as curious as his sister and neither parent could deny that the twins were most beautiful things they had ever seen. 

“He does, oh they’re both just so precious. I can’t believe their ours.” Leda was firmly attached to both of her children and it had been hard to spend the first days of their lives with only one of them. She knew that Troy still had a battle to win but for now they could revel in this small victory. 

Grouse entered the medical bay in a bit of a rush, though the bot skidded to a halt when Tern gave him a look that screamed _‘no running in my medical bay’ . _

“Tyreen err, requests your presence Ms.Calypso.” He reported. 

Leda chuckled. “Grouse you know you can call me Leda. Worry not, I will handle her.” 

“I’ll put Troy to bed then meet back up with you dear.” Typhon said as Leda hurried off before Tyreen was too worked up, the girl had a pair of lungs on her already and if not tended too in what her young mind considered an acceptable amount of time she could very easily be heard even halfway across the ship. 

Typhon regarded his son who was still curled in his arms again. He was falling asleep again and Typhon hoped that when he woke up he would still be well. Once he was sure his son was asleep he passed him back to Tern who went about settling him in the isolette again. He would be back later that night, he had been sleeping on the medical bays couch since Troy was admitted but before he went to leave he placed a hand on the plastic shell once more. 

“Hang in there little guy, your family’s rooting for you.”


	2. The Leech

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyreen's Siren powers have woken up

** “But moooom!” **

“Inside voice Tyreen.” 

“But moooom.” Tyreen whispered though her annoyance was still apparent as she pouted looking up at her mother who was perched on the edge of the twin’s bed stroking Troy’s hair. “Why can’t we go out and look at the cool ruins. You promised.” 

Leda gave Tyreen a sympathetic smile. “I know Starlight, but your brother isn’t feeling well and I need to look after him.” As if on cue Troy whimpered and Leda placed a damp cloth over his forehead, gently soothing him. 

“Troy’s always getting sick, is it the stripes? Why don’t my stripes make me sick? Or yours mommy?” She asked looking at the blue looping patterns crossing her forearm. 

“That’s part of it yes, our stripes don’t make us sick, they make us stronger. Unfortunately Troy’s hurt him and that’s why we have to be gentle with him and let him get his rest.” It wasn’t easy to explain to Tyreen, but Leda also didn’t want to lie to her daughter especially not about something as important as the twins Sirenism. 

“That’s not fair though! Why do Troy’s stripes hurt him when ours don’t hurt us?” Tyreen was ever curious and while Leda would never do anything to put a damper on it however the questions Tyreen was asking were starting to get hard hitting. Leda would do anything to know why her son was so frail and sickly but they just didn’t have the answers to that. On top of that Tyreen was starting to get upset and Leda did not want her daughter to come to the stark realization that her brother would never be as healthy as she was. 

“Tyreen, sweetheart, since your Mom’s gotta look after Troy why don’t you and I go out to the ruins instead eh?” Typhon appeared in the doorway to the twins room obviously having overheard the conversation between his wife and daughter and picked now to intervene. 

“Yeah I guess, even though you can’t read the words like mommy can.” Tyreen wanted to get out of the house and would gladly take any excuse to do so even if it wasn’t what she had originally had in mind. 

“Be safe and have fun you two!” Leda said winking and mouthing ‘thank you’ to her husband as they left the bedroom. 

**

Nekrotafeyo was hardly a safe place to be raising kids but Typhon and Leda always made sure that if the twins were out it was either with their supervision or that of the bots Sparrow and Grouse. Typhon watched as Tyreen walked ahead of him pointing at rocks and interesting plants as they walked the trail from their home. 

“Tyreen be careful, there’s lotsa dangerous things out here you know.” Typhon cautioned, the closer they got to the Eridian ruins the more chances they had to run into the constructs the Eridians had left behind. Granted they had never seen constructs this close to their hide away but Typhon and Leda had encountered them away from their usual positions before. 

“I knooow Daaad.” Tyreen called, it was always be careful or don’t get so close, she just wanted to know how the world around her worked she didn’t understand why her parents could be so annoying about it. 

She skidded to stop noticing something she hadn’t seen before. In between the dull grey of the Eridian stone jutted a group of purple crystals that glistened in the light sending sparkling rays of light to dance on the ground. The crystal seemed to hum with an ethereal song that was all too familiar to her though where from Tyreen wasn't sure. 

“What is it?” She wondered out loud stepping closer to it. Typhon having finally caught up to her in time to see what had caught her curiosity. 

“It’s eridium Tyreen, it’s a fancy rock that your mom and I use to power the house and shield generator.” He explained seemingly oblivious to the call of the crystal that Tyreen heard. She cautiously reached out to touch it her siren markings flaring ever so slightly as a spark of energy rushed from the stone and up her arm as she made contact. 

“Hah it tickles! I like it!” She exclaimed even as she drew away slightly startled by the spark. Typhon raised a brow, he and Leda were both still in the dark as to what Tyreen’s siren abilities even were, as they had yet to manifest. Yet it seemed that whatever power laid dormant in her was starting to wake up and react to the world around her. 

“You’ll have to ask your mom more about it, she knows all kinds of stuff about using eridium.” Typhon said nudging her gently away from the crystal remembering Leda mentioning that eridium could also be addictive to Sirens. “Let’s head back home Starlight, I’m sure your mom is waiting to hear all about your adventures today.” 

“Ugh but daaad we hardly even did anything, mom takes us all the way up to the waterfall.” Tyreen pouted again and Typhon found that he couldn’t tell her no especially when she looked so sad. 

“Alright alright, we can go up to the waterfall but then we’re going home.” Typhon watched as Tyreen smiled again and cheered making a beeline for the path to the waterfall. “Just be careful Tyreen! You know the Manta’s make their nests up there!” 

Tyreen of course had her own plans in mind and as she reached the waterfall she skidded to a stop running into one of the aforementioned Manta that had been drinking from the lake. The creature hissed in surprise blinking its many eyes backing away from her, it was a juvenile hardly bigger than she was but it’s cry of surprise alerted its nearby parent. 

The larger more aggressive Manta stepped out of its den the noise it made much more aggressive towards the foreign creature that had startled its child. A sickle like arm slamming the ground in front Tyreen who screamed in response running away from the beast, she was in over her head and Typhon still had some catching up to do. 

The adult Manta leaned around the rock she hid behind an exploratory tendril reaching ever closer to her. It brushed her left arm but a voice in her head told her not to scream. 

Grab it, the voice in her head told her and she did. Her tiny fingers wrapping around the sensory organ. Drain it, the voice commanded in a cool tone, at first Tyreen didn’t know what that meant but the answer came to her like she had known it her whole life. Her markings flared again like when she touched the eridium only this time instead of just a spark of energy she felt a whole wave crash over her as red chain like strands of magic flowed from her hand and into the Manta until all that was left was eridium and ash in the shape of the creature. 

“Woah.” She exclaimed as she broke free of the now stone tendril that had been latched to her arm. 

Typhon was on the other side of the Manta having shown up seconds before she had done what she’d done, his whip still raised and ready to fight the monster. “Tyreen! Starlight are you ok! I told you it was dangerous up here.” He chided though his gaze was on the petrified Manta. 

“Y-yeah I’m fine dad, see?” Tyreen was obviously shaken by the events yet still standing tall like she did when Troy would get hurt when they played too rough, because she knew that if she got upset he would get upset and something was telling her the same would happen here. Even so, she slid into her dad's arms as he offered her a hug. “What did I do to it dad?” 

“I don’t know Starlight…. I don’t know. C’mon we should really get back to your mom.” Tyreen made a soft murmur of agreement and the rest of the walk back home was silent.

***

Back home Tyreen was settled into her parents' bed, as she often was when Troy was unwell. However unlike most times she chose not to stay in bed instead pressing her ear against the door as she heard her parents talking. 

“Ok,ok tell me again what she did Typhon?” Leda’s voice was soft and gentle if not a bit incredulous. 

“I’m telling you one minute that Manta was alive, then the next it’s a friggen eridium statue Leda!” Typhon exclaimed. 

“And you're sure she did it? There weren’t any guardians around?” 

“No not one. I’m telling ya Leda, it was Tyreen and she knows it. We can’t lie to her about it.” 

“No we can’t, but I had to be sure Typhon. That doesn’t sound like any siren power I’ve ever come across and yet something tells me it’s familiar. I’ll talk to her, will you please go look after Troy, he’s been asking for you.” 

“Of course Leda, let me know if you need me.” Tyreen listened as her mother’s footsteps approached the door and she hurried back to the bed hoping it wouldn’t be obvious that she’d been eavesdropping. 

There was a knock on the door “Tyreen sweetheart, it’s mommy.” Leda announced before opening the door finding Tyreen on the bed with a book in her lap. 

“Am I in trouble mom?” Tyreen asked putting the book down. “I didn’t mean to hurt the Manta! I promise, it touched me and…” Leda raised a hand as she sat down and put a hand on her daughters back soothingly. 

“It’s ok Tyreen, you’re not in trouble. We just need to have a talk about what happened. Do you know what you did?” She asked gently.

Tyreen shook her head. “No there was just a voice in my head that told me what to do mommy.”

“I see. Tyreen you know mommy’s stripes let her grow plants right?” Leda watched and smiled as her daughter nodded. “Well it would appear that your stripes let you turn things into statues.” 

“Wait? My stripes did that? I thought it was just for growing plants like you?” Tyreen looked at her left arm with amazement again her right hand tracing the ornate pattern. 

“No sweetheart, every siren has her own powers.” Leda explained her hand finding its way into her daughters hair. 

“S-Siren? Is that what I am? What you are?” 

“Yes! The sirens are a special group of women and your lucky to be one of them.” 

Tyreen was beaming as her mother explained what her markings had meant this whole time. “That’s so cool! I wanna do more siren stuff mom!” 

Leda smiled and laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm. “And you will I promise, but now, now is bedtime for good little sirens. Soon though I will show you all the cool things about being a siren and how it makes you special.” She leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead before tucking her in for the night. 

“Goodnight Sweetheart.” Leda went to turn the lights off as she went back out to check in with Typhon and Troy. As she walked down the hall one phrase filled her mind seemingly echoing from the memories of Sirens past, filling her with a sense of dread that she found hard to shake. 

The Leech. She’s back. ** The Leech.**_ The Leech. _


	3. Rough Patch

Early CoV

Tyreen paced up and down the length of the Cathedral infirmary waiting room. She was glad that aside from the glass door, the walls of the room were thick metal. The God-Queen couldn’t be caught nervously wringing her hands as she paced like a captive lion. Not that she _looked _like the God-Queen when she was draped in a too big hooded jacket over a thin tank top, however she couldn’t settle down or stop herself. Troy was in surgery; perhaps the most extensive operation he’d been through besides breaking his jaw when they were teenagers. 

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it would be ok, that this was _necessary_. It wasn’t his fault he was so fragile, a fact that had been repeated to her by her parents since they’d been born back on Nekrotafeyo. She’d always had to be strong while she watched their parents dote over him, their mother boosting him with her own siren energy when he was running low. Tyreen had never been sickly, only catching a cold once or twice in her childhood,and she had never been severely injured before the incident with the guardians.It had always been so hard to wrap her head around the fact that her twin brother, who had once even been a _part _of her could be so sickly in return. 

It was for that reason that Tyreen was grateful when Allison had sat her down and explained in great detail what they would be doing to Troy in this operation. She had been the one to catch that the scrap contraption Troy called a right arm was pulling his spine out of alignment and exacerbating a congenital defect in his vertebra. Without this operation the damage would worsen,and the neurological symptoms would become unavoidable. Allison had also gotten Troy to agree to getting a neural port installed so that he could actually use the arm instead of just hanging off him like the hunk of scrap it was. 

None of that helped now,though,she was still anxious about what was going on beyond the waiting room door. In her mind, images flashed of her brother flayed open on a cold operation table picked through like an animal being dissected. Their fathers' warnings of what the corporations would do to them repeated over these images. She hated how the infirmary smelled, so sterile and clean. It felt fake like that, especially here on Pandora. Nothing should be this clean not even if it was a medical practice. 

Tyreen stopped her pacing and shook her head, this was ridiculous. Allison Spectra was the woman who had saved them when she had been sure Troy was about to die in the Promethean slums. She had been their doctor for years at this point there was no reason to think she would suddenly be untrustworthy, especially when she’d brought in one of the best neurosurgeons in the six galaxies to aid in the operation. Troy was literally in the most capable hands he could be in, she just needed to relax. 

She sat down in the chair she had left her bag on and fished out her echo-phone. Everyone in the Inner Circle knew what was going on, and Juni had assured her that they would handle things until Troy was stable. Tyreen still couldn’t help but check in on the morning reports, Jaxon had just finished leading the sermon. While it was a relief that the Children of the Vault could run itself without her constant supervision. Tyreen felt like it was all she had control of in this moment. If she truly needed to, she could phone Juni and have her do whatever she needed done, of course she knew that she should just let it rest, for now, and focus on the things at hand but it was comforting to know that one thing at least was always in her control. 

She did however open the channel she used to talk to all the department heads. The moment her icon took a green aura indicating she was online she immediately got pinged by Juni. 

**Juniper (Marketing) :** TYREEN! Turn it off!

**Juniper (Marketing): **You promised you’d look after yourself, micromanaging us isn’t looking after yourself Tyreen. I can handle things while you worry about yourself and Troy, Jaxon is on the alert too she promised to handle anything that comes her way. 

Tyreen huffed at the messages, even though they made her feel fuzzy inside. Knowing that Juni was looking after her she couldn’t just not answer. 

**Tyreen (God Queen): **Thanks. I’ll head off now, you remind me to get you a gift basket or _three_ when this is handled. 

She closed the app and sifted through some current news articles looking for anything to distract her. Until the door clicked open, one of the nurses stepped out and was almost immediately accosted by Tyreen. 

“Is it done? Is he ok? He’s ok right?”Tyreen would never act like this if she thought it would get out into the general public but the medical team was sworn to secrecy the same way the department heads were. 

“God-Queen, we aren’t done quite yet. Dr.Spectra wanted to speak with you. She’ll be out in a moment.”The nurse said in a tone that had anyone else used they would have found themselves husked. Today though nobody would be husked, these people were here to do a job.

The nurse disappeared back behind the door and after what felt like entirely too long the familiar face of Allison Spectra stepped into the room. Most of her definable features were masked off by her surgical scrubs but her amber eyes that softened when they focused on Tyreen were unmistakable. 

“Ah Tyreen, don’t worry everything’s been going perfectly fine. We’ve installed all the vertebral implants and Dr.Sampson is getting ready to install the neural port. Actually that’s what I wanted to speak with you about, as I’m sure you can imagine it’s a bit of a _delicate _process and while Dr.Sampson is the best neuro specialist in this arm of the galaxy things can still be a little tricky.”Allison held up a hand as Tyreen began to glare at her. 

Tyreen weighed the words carefully. She did not want to jump to any conclusions but Allison more so than anybody else in the CoV would know how _seriously _Tyreen took her brother's health. How could she not when she had been the one who had found a freshly rained on frantic eighteen year old in the lobby of her private practice on Promethea sobbing and begging for help, that her brother was sicker than he’d ever been. Allison had only ever been here to help, and she _knew _that. 

“Shouldn’t you, y’know be in there then? Not out here with me?”She said after what felt like an insufferably long pause. Surely if the operation was not done, one of the attending physicians shouldn’t be out here with her just because she was wearing a track into the floor. 

“_I’m _not a neurosurgeon if you’ll recall,the nurses can handle watching his vitals. There’s no reason for me to be clogging up the operating room when there’s nothing more I can do.”Allison took her mask and gloves off, shoving them into a pocket of her operating scrubs, then placed a gentle hand on Tyreens leg.”Besides, I figured you could use some company.” 

Tyreen said nothing to that. It was true she could use the company. How often did she forget that despite all her bluster she was a person, there was only so much she could shoulder by herself before the bottled up emotions ran over. She said nothing but let the hand remain, a good little reminder that she deserved the comfort of others. 

——

Tyreen didn’t know what to expect when she walked into Troy’s hospital room. The only force driving her forward right now was the need for visual confirmation that her twin was alive and well. Dr.Sampson had used a lot of big medical terms she didn’t really understand while telling her the operation had been successful. To be honest her brain had mostly blocked out everything he’d said after confirming that Troy had taken all the implants well. She knew that anything that she needed clarification on she could turn to Allison for, but nothing would settle her other than seeing Troy herself. 

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she entered the room. Time seemed to slow around her as she looked at the heavily bandaged figure that lay in the hospital bed. Her mind immediately registered him as her brother. However,he looked so different in that moment, even when he’d needed his jaw glued back together he still looked like Troy. Laying in the bed now he looked so small.

She was transported back in an instant to Nekrotafeyo, to the days when she would be pulled by her father kicking and screaming away from the bed while her mother would cradle Troy’s tiny body in her lap, how still he would be sometimes. This was just like that only mom and dad weren’t here now to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be alright. 

Allison and Dr.Sampson had both warned her that it wouldn’t be pretty, that there would probably be blood seepage,but not to worry unless it seemed excessive.Even so,the bloodstained bandages caught her attention.She was glad that Troy was being pumped full of the best pain killers on the market because even without seeing what lay under the bandages it looked so painful. 

It took every ounce of self-control she had to not just touch him with her powers and take the pain away. The doctors had been very clear with her that she _could_ _not _make the same mistake she’d made with his jaw. He would be laid up for a month at the longest;they had to let his body heal naturally or he would likely be paralyzed if not worse. She perched in the chair by his bedside so afraid that if she were to so much as breathe on him he would turn to dust before her eyes. 

She hummed softly, the old lullaby their mother used to sing when they were scared or afraid. Leda had so many lullabies that Tyreen felt like she did no justice to. They were, however, one of the last tenuous strands to their mother they had left and in this moment _she_ needed the strength that Leda had always had. 

***

Tyreen was determined to sit vigil at her brother's bedside; she hadn’t left the room in days. When the medical team would come in to check on him she’d excuse herself to the bathroom or go stand in the hallway. She had seen them change his bandages once and that had been one time too many for her. Allison asked her if she’d eaten every time she came in and Tyreen lied through her teeth, she hadn’t left the infirmary ward at all, for once in her life her ability to sustain herself without eating was useful. 

She’d fallen out of the habit of checking her echo every ten minutes, if someone needed her attention so desperately _they _could message her. She was deep in thought when movement at the door caught her attention and Juniper walked in. Tyreen had forgotten that she’d given Juni permission to enter the ward if she so chose to, but she was glad to see a familiar face from outside the ward. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey.” Tyreen echoed back at her, her gaze never straying. Juniper dragged a chair from the corner of the room and sat next to her God-Queen. 

“How’s he doing?” She asked, placing a hand on Tyreen’s shoulder. 

“Fine. They’re gonna have him sleep through the worst of it.” 

“And how are _you_ doing chica? You look like you haven’t slept in days.” 

“I haven’t. Not really at least. I’ve caught a few hours here and there but…I just worry something awful will happen to him while I sleep.” Tyreen rubbed her eyes, she felt like a ghost of herself. 

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for that Tyreen. You know that right? This is out of your hands now.” Juni soothed giving the other woman's leg a reassuring squeeze. 

“I can though. This is my fault, the fact that he needed the operation at all, the fact he’s so sick all the time. All of it.” 

“Would you blame yourself if he was like this and you hadn’t been born the way the both of you had been?” 

Silence met the question and after a long pause with no answer in sight Juniper sighed.“ I get it. He’s your family, he’s all you got, but that doesn’t mean you can tear yourself apart like this.” 

She sighed again and looked to the door before looking back at Tyreen. “Listen, when I was just a little younger than you my family lived in the Promethean slums. Folks didn’t care about what ended up in the air or water cos we were the underbelly and they were progress. I had a younger sister and I had to sit and watch as she got sicker and sicker and nobody gave a damn. I had to watch my sister suffer and die and accept there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. As the older or stronger sibling we so often feel like it’s on us alone to protect our siblings, but we can’t do it all Tyreen.”

“Troy’s a tough guy, and you're literally sitting in one of the best medical facilities on Pandora. He’ll be alright and if he does need you? Shouldn’t you be in the best condition you can be to provide for him. Please just get something to eat, have a nap. I’ll stay here and watch him for you Ty.” 

Tyreen looked up at Juniper, there were tears in both of their eyes and a look of understanding Tyreen had never seen from another person before. She had always thought her burdens were things she couldn’t share with anyone else, she hadn’t even considered that other people would feel powerless in such a situation. She figured that regular people just accepted that other peoples lives were out of their control. For Juniper to understand her pain and be willing to watch over Troy in her place, it touched her. Juniper was among the few people Tyreen considered a genuine friend and this only cemented that thought for her. 

She got up slowly, feeling a bit dizzy. Perhaps she did need to eat more than she thought she did. She gave Juniper a small tired smile. 

“Promise you’ll call if anything changes.” 

“You’ll be the first to know hun.” Juni patted her shoulder and tilted her head towards the door. “Go on, go take care of yourself.” 


	4. Progenitors

What are the Progenitors? 

As long as there has been a universe, there have been progenitors. They are the seeders of life, creators of planets, they are _gods_ by every definition of the word. Though they are sentient they do not consider themselves gods nor could they tell you what compels them to create only that they do. 

The progenitors themselves are all varied in appearance; you would not think they were all one race. One thing that is consistent among them is their ability to survive in the void of space, they are so massive in their natural form that space is the only place which could truly contain them. They also inhabit the space between space, a dimension beyond that of our own. Whether their dimension and ours was created at the same time or if ours is merely a creation of theres is unknown. 

The Progenitors along with using their gift of creation to seed life are also capable of a more natural method of reproduction though, their offspring that were born into this dimension are considerably smaller than their parents, they are much more involved with the creation life than planets like their parents. For this they are often dubbed Demigods. Most races in the known universe can trace their origin back to a Progenitor Demigod. 

The Progenitors and The Eridians 

The Eridians are one of the universe's oldest races, created by a demigod known as The Weaver. For millennia the Eridians have sought to understand the gods of this reality, but the Progenitors and their offspring remain a constant mystery. 

Despite their ability to communicate the Progenitors do not wish to divulge _their_ history nor the true nature of where they come from. The Eridians would not take that as an answer, what they could not understand, they sought to control.

They started with the substance now known as Eridium, they found it in large quantities on planets which the Progenitors had freshly made. They studied it and properties, they used it to create the _magic _their civilization would run on. 

Then they used it in an act of betrayal. 

The Eridians had lost their first world to war, warring broods who disagreed on which Demigod they wanted to worship, there were many Eridian cults and while the Weaver was always the true creator some Broodmothers worshipped other demigods in the hopes their brood would take on an aspect. Always a demigod never a _Progenitors_, the Progenitors did not bless the Eridians the way their children did. 

The more dominant brood used Eridium to open a pocket dimension of their own creation and sealed inside was their contesting hives Demigod. The first vault. This prison was created in such a way that Eridians could enter it, see the bound and restrained demigod, interact with it yet it could do nothing but watch. 

Nekrotafeyo, _first_ _landing_ in their tongue, for it was not their first home. That had been destroyed in the Brood war but the winning brood mother, now the _Hive Queen _had crushed all opposition. Her first order was construction of the great machine, that which would be the gateway to all vaults, future and current. 

They would continue to build vaults to imprison the children of the gods and eventually the gods themselves. But they only moved for Progenitors when they realized the reason they would not answer the Eridians call was due to their devotion to a different race entirely. 

The Progenitors and Humanity

The Progenitors have always regarded humanity with a fondness, though unlike their offspring they decided to take a decidedly more hands off approach to their observations. Especially since the creation of humanity coincided right with the start of the Eridian era of vaults and the Progenitors were less willing to come out of hiding. They saw a spark in humanity though, the same spark that would eventually drive humanity to the stars and they admired it.

Throughout human history the Progenitors would lend small bits of their power to humanity,the people who received these powers would become the stuff of legends The Oracle of Delphi, Sorcerers, Witches, all the result of Progenitors reaching out to humanity or humanity unknowingly reaching out to them. These powers did not carry lineages though, because they were but the smallest part of a Progenitors power, a loan that would be repaid through death.

Humanity sought to answer where these powers came from but they did not have the means to understand nor grasp the true nature of the Progenitors, so instead they named them, interpreted them in a way that made sense to a human mind. 

Some of these names would stick, becoming the Progenitors preferred name to mortals as most of them were merely bastardizations of the true language they spoke. 

When humanity made it to the stars, the Eridians came to meet them. They picked up a broadcast from a human satellite and upon meeting humanity they were intrigued to find the touch of the Progenitors among them. This became the main reason the Eridians were so willing to ally with humanity in the hopes that they might understand the beings that stayed beyond their reach. 

The Imprisonment of the Gods

Through their close relationship with humanity the Eridians were able to learn more about the true nature of the Progenitors and just how like their offspring they were. They had caged many Demigods in vaults in the ensuing years, leaving only one free, The Weaver. They kept it in a vault yes, but that vault was never sealed; it was free to leave if it so chose it. 

They were able to lure the Progenitors out of the space between, they used humans as bait. Once they had them vulnerable they too were imprisoned inside the vaults. The cost of which being large deposits of Eridium and a human soul. 

With _most _ of the Progenitors now imprisoned it was time to begin the Hive Queen’s great experiment. 

Sirens : The Great Experiment 

Eridians could not use the power of the Progenitors, even captured the Gods refused to give themselves to the Hive. This did not dissuade Eridian scientists though they had planned for this. 

They reached out to their human allies and requested a group of female babies. Why female? There are no male eridians, they are all female drones, there comes a point in the life cycle of an Eridian that they become male to offer their genes to their Brood Mother but this is near the end of their lives. They have always assumed that the human male was the weaker of the two because of their societal concept of gender. 

They took the babies, seven total was all humanity was willing to give under the vague instructions of their alien allies. Seven was enough though for the Eridians only had seven captive progenitors. They used eridium powered devices to steal the power from the captive gods and transfer it to the seven human children. This sent the Gods into a long sleep and to ensure they would not be able to retaliate if they did awaken, the eridians sealed their vaults shut and scattered the keys to far reaches of the universe. 

The human children who now were conduits for the powers of these gods displayed an unmistakable tell, a blue swirling pattern on one side of their body now known as the Siren marking. 

The Eridians used Eridium again to tweak the inherited powers to work better with each other with the intent that the Sirens always would be a unit. Their powers meant to complement each other. They had chosen these seven Progenitors to be captured for a reason. 

These Sirens were; 

**Hecate,** Inheritor of the power of _Hel. _aspect of death, the great balance. (Phaseleech) She was tasked with the greatest burden keeping the sisterhood from turning on itself. 

**Demeter,** Inheritor of the power of Ithunn. Aspect of Life (Phasegrow) She was tasked with seeding planets with life, wherever she went life would follow. 

**Artemis, **Inheritor of the power of _Syn_. The aspect of order. (Phaselock) She was tasked with settling disputes of ideas, intended to be a neutral third party in conflicts that threatened life. 

**Pyrrha**, Inheritor of the power of _Angerboda_. The aspect of change. (Phasewalk). She was tasked with applying pressure to those who would not listen to reason as presented by Artemis. 

**Bellona, **Inheritor of the power _Freya_. The aspect of adaptation. (Phasegrasp). Tasked with rebuilding civilization after extreme conflict or disaster.

**Eris**, Inheritor of the power of _Skadi. _The aspect of Chaos (Phaseshift). Tasked with seeding conflict in those who would threaten the safety of inhabited space.

**Nemesis**, Inheritor of the power of _Var. _The aspect of Diplomacy (Phasetempt). Tasked with speaking for the sisterhood and making people accept the Sirens. 

The Siren War 

In adulthood once Eridian caretakers left Vanagard in their rule the Sirens went on to fulfil their roles. However eventually a problem rose up. Nemesis was not happy with being the galactic police , if they were going to rule they should rule the way the Hive Queen rules the Eridians. She wanted absolute control and given her power to completely change the minds and memories of non-Sirens she set to work. 

The sisterhood did not realize what was happening under their nose until it was too late. Several planets were entirely under Nemesis’ control. 

Hecate had a plan however, after consulting with Artemis they decided there was only one thing that could be done. Hecate lured Nemesis to an empty vault and used her life force to seal it shut from the outside. 

The sisterhood was frightened they had just lost two sisters in one fell swoop. However, it was not long before something began calling to them, singing the song they had crafted together. It called from beyond the planet and they followed it. Discovering a teenage girl, Nyriad, who now bore the markings of their sister and carried her memories. They understood now that they were linked to power inside them, that because the Progenitors were sealed away the power could not go back to them so instead it would go to new hosts, ones who embodied the virtue of the original bearer best. 


	5. Kiss Me You Animal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sloane and Troy have a moment , Mid Cov , relationship already established

Sloane knew Troy had a long day from the way he immediately collapsed on their bed, not bothering to take off his clothes or prothesthic. 

“Rough day huh?” She asked setting down her Echophone on the nightstand to give him her full attention. 

A low groan into the bed told her all she needed to know. She pushed the covers off her and perched at his side.She tugged at his vest and managed to get it off his left arm but she ran into a bit of trouble with his right, especially as the position he was in made impossible for her to slip her hands under and unlatch the arm. “Come on big guy help me out.” 

With another exhausted groan the hulking metal arm shifted so she could access the release. The routine of unlatching and unfastening his arm and bracer had become so normal for her she could do it even when she couldn’t see all the parts. With a huff she nudged the heavy appendage off the bed and tossed the vest down after it. 

“You don’t have to do this, Love.” He mumbled as she began unhooking the wires from his neural connector. 

“You’re right I don’t _have_ to, but I’m doing it because I want to.” She kissed the base of his neck and trailed them down til she got to the top of his implant. She threw her leg over his side straddling him and planting herself firmly on his ass. Without missing a beat her hands undid the latches of the outer casing and his bracer off gently placing them with the rest of his prosthetic. 

“Where are you hurting, love.” She cooed softly her hands ready to soothe the aches wherever they may be.

“Left shoulder.” 

She snorted as he specified which shoulder, it wasn’t like he _had _a right one. He lacked even the formings of a shoulder blade and she knew from experience that when you placed a hand where his shoulder should have started you could feel his rib cage expanding through the thin skin and muscle. 

Nevertheless she scooted up his back slightly instead of kneeling and digging her knees into his ass. “Why do you have to be so fucking tall. Like jeez I lived in a forest and knew trees shorter than you.” 

“You love it and you know it.” Troy teased the end of his sentence morphed into sigh of relief as she kneaded her fingers into the warm skin of his shoulder. 

The both of them sat in silence. The only sound between them came when Sloane began to hum to herself the song that she knew in her _soul_, the song of the Sirens. 

“That sounds like a song mom used to hum to Ty and I as kids.” Troy remarked turning his head so that one ice blue eye met her face. 

“It’s probably the same song. We all know it, it’s part of us. I don’t even know when I learned it if I’m perfectly honest, it feels as if it’s always been a part of me.” 

“ Makes sense…” 

“And you know it too, because you’re one of us.”

She did not ask if he heard it too, in his bones, in the corner of every dream. She knew the Twins were different, broken. A single being inhabiting two separate bodies. It didn’t matter, they were beautiful regardless and she loved them not because they were perfect but because they were flawed. 

“Feel any better?” She asked as she stretched her arms over her head. She’d been bent over him for so long she was starting to feel it now. 

“Much, thanks to you my little songbird.” 

Sloane blushed and was about to hop off him only to squeal in surprise as he shifted under her and latched onto her waist as he pulled her under him. 

“Where do you think you're going? I didn’t say I was done with you little songbird.” He purred into the nape of her neck. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her but the feel of his fangs pressed into neck still brought the smallest prick of fear to the back of her mind. She wondered if he felt the same, even though she was smaller she was still as much a predator as he was and no matter how tamed a predator seemed, the risk they could snap was always there. 

“Oh yeah, what else did you have in mind then _big boy.”_ Her lips parted silver fangs met gold as she pulled herself into his lips. 

She heard the hum as their markings made contact with each other a small buzz like a low voltage current jumping between them wanting them to be closer still though that was a physical impossibility. 

She whispered into his ear as she caught the bottom with her tongue. “I want to be so close we won’t be able to tell where one of us ends and the other begins.” 

He snorts out a chuckle, genuine and relaxed. “Well that’s one way to ask for cuddles.” 

He shifted her into the crook of his arm, his leg threaded through her thighs, her head rested on his collar safe from harm but not from each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so unapologetically Horny but I'm making that everyone elses problem


	6. Flights of Fancy

The first time she flew Tyreen was alone. Out in the harsh Necrotafeyan landscape, normally Troy would be here as they tried to find solace away from the oppressive atmosphere of their home with their father. However Troy was unwell and that was all the more reason Tyreen had needed to vacate the premises. The walls had been closing in one her but now as she stood on the edge of a cliff a faint urge tickled at the back of her mind. 

_Take the leap. Claim what is yours. You yearn for it. _

The words were simultaneously hers and not, but the urge soon grew to be unbearable. She looked down into the valley below, to the hard unforgiving ground that would be her doom should this urge lead her astray. Tyreen waited until she could not contain the urge any longer like an itch begging to be scratched, she hurled herself off the cliff into oblivion’s embrace. 

The fall never came though. In the split second between leaving the ground and the tug of gravity her body responded in kind. Large bat-like wings of glowing purple energy coalesced from her back and held her aloft. It was like breathing, she barely had to think about it to keep aloft. It was like speaking a language you didn’t realize you knew, she could understand how to navigate the air currents. 

She spent the better part of the afternoon practicing maneuvers and dives. It was a rush she had previously thought she could only get from leeching other creatures but this, this was so much more than that. 

She wanted to go home and tell Troy about it but the voice in the back of her mind nagged. _He wouldn’t understand. He worries so much, he’d probably tell me never to do it again. _

Maybe Troy didn’t have to know just yet. Anyway it would give her time to practice some cool tricks before she showed Troy her wings. 

—-

It ended up not coming up. Not til a cool breeze blew across the harsh Pandoran desert as the twilight kissed the sky. 

The twins giggled like they were children again as they ran out the back exit of the Cathedral. One day this space would be filled with altars of devotion but for now the Cathedral was in its infancy and such designs were merely blueprints in their minds.

They had stopped halfway between the cliff side and cathedral for Troy to catch his breath. The air growing ever cooler in the shadow of the monolithic building. 

“It’s crazy how _liveable _this planet becomes at night. I don’t understand how the clans manage it during the day.” Troy remarks between heaving wheezes, he may have pushed himself too hard but the exhilaration of getting out of the stuffy building was worth it. 

“Probably because they aren’t spoiled little brats like us from a low light planet.” Tyreen teases bouncing on her heels unable to stay still in the moment, she wonders if this is how it feels to be a shark, to be so full of energy you cannot stop. Her eyes trail over to the cliff and she makes a plan her body automatically agrees to act on. 

She grabs his hand and pulls him to his feet. “Vamos, hermano.” 

“T-Tyreen?” He doesn’t have time to ask more as they continue a full sprint forward. He feels something tense the pit of his stomach as Tyreen pulls him closer and closer to the precipice. If she’s about to do what he _thinks _she’s about to do there’s very little time to come up with a plan of action. 

“Don’t worry Troy this is gonna be cool.” She says between giggling as the edge nears. 

He calculates just where he would need to dig his heels in to prevent tipping over the edge but just before he does Tyreen let’s go. She launches herself over the cliff side. 

“Tyreen no!” He grabs at the empty air where his sister just was. His balance thrown off by the sudden release he falls to the ground, tucking inward on instinct to protect his right side. He quickly scrambled to look over the edge expecting to see his sister's body dashed on the rocks below, feeling bile rising in his throat. 

It was at that moment that the ringing in his ears cleared and he heard the telltale peals of laughter they could only belong to Tyreen. He willed himself to look up to find his sister hovering above him. Purple bat-like wings cut through the air with a low hum on the downwards stroke and Tyreen looked like the cat who’d eaten the canary. 

“Ahahaha! It feels so good to be in the air. I haven’t gotten to stretch these babies in _forever._” She did a midair twirl before landing back beside Troy, wings tucking agiasnt her back but not phasing out of existence. She offered him a hand up scrutinizing his face which had grown uncharacteristically pale. 

“What’s the matter? You look like you saw a ghost.” 

“That wasn’t very funny T-Tyreen! I th-thought you just jumped into oblivion, you know?” He hissed the last dredges of the setting sunlight catching as a glint in his golden fangs. 

“Do you really think I’d off myself like that Troy? Do you think I’d off _you_ like that?” She challenged, an eyebrow shooting up towards her hairline. 

I don’t know what you were thinking to be honest!” 

“What’s got you so wound up? Surely you have wings too! You're a siren too bro.” 

He scoffed and turned away from her. 

“Yeah well… I can’t fly Tyreen.” 

“Have you ever tried?” She balked, surely she would know if he’d ever tried wouldn’t she? There was scarcely ever a time when they weren’t in close proximity while he messed with what little abilities he had. 

A red glow cracked across the shadowed ground casting them both in its light. Troy’s back was still facing her and she took in the source of the light. Two skeletal wings attached at her brothers back, bathed in crackling red energy. 

The left one a skeletal mirror of her own, the right however made her gasp in surprise as she registered it. It was incomplete, having no wing fingers save for a singular malformed thumb and its forearm was twisted painfully the wrong way on its deformed elbow. The wing hung off him like a broken tree branch twitching constantly. A surge of red crackling energy coalescing around it and it spasmed painfully. 

“**AGH F-FUCK**!!” Troy pitched onto his knees, the wings dissipating into a cloud of red smoke as he wrapped his left hand over his right side massaging the painfully spasming muscles in his back. 

Tyreen approached to help him but he swatted at her as she knelt beside him. 

“Fuck off, Ty!” 

She tries not to be offended knowing it’s the pain talking and not Troy. If she had known what was wrong with him she never would have pushed him that hard. 

When the pain had gone from blinding to just an ever present _throb _in his back. He rose from the ground, he needed muscle relaxants, a hot bath, _anything_ to help take his mind off the fresh pain. He couldn’t even bear the light pressure of his vest against his skin right now. 

He began to walk away ignoring Tyreen’s pleas of apology. He ground his fangs together and had only a few parting words for her before he strode out of her earshot. 

“I’m not a real siren, _remember.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all I'm back at it again with the Calypso fics I hope you enjoy, you can find me else where on Twitter as Raidbossmadi and tumblr too though I don't frequent there often , feel free to drop me a line here or at any of the listed sites if you'd like to chat


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